Phil Mickelson can't believe how prepared Tiger Woods is for Ryder Cup

On Monday morning, United States Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III gave one of his 11 players (so far) Phil Mickelson a huge compliment about his preparedness for big tournaments.

"Phil Mickelson, nobody prepares for major championships better than Phil Mickelson and [caddie] Bones," said Love of the upcoming Ryder Cup.

But it was Mickelson, who less than 24 hours earlier had paid nearly the exact same compliment to Love's vice captain Tiger Woods after praising Love for having a "real game plan."

"We know who is going to be playing with who, when they're going to be playing, what matches," Mickelson told Golf Channel. "I am so happy to see how well [Tiger] has thought this through. I can't believe our conversations just this week, how detailed he is and the pairings, the possibilities, the players. Not just what matches they're going to play, but where on the list. He has got us really a good, solid game plan that is easy to buy into and get behind. I'm very impressed."

Love agreed with Mickelson about Woods' work on Monday.

"Tiger looks at things from maybe a little bit higher viewpoint than all of us sometimes," said Love. "His strategy on the golf course ... Everybody just automatically thinks, just look at the scorecard, it's a really long course, we need long hitters. Tiger looks at it a whole lot differently than that. Tiger over the last two or three weeks has made us really think hard about not only pairings but other things that we need to look for in our players.

"He's taken the stats package that we get and breaking it down to what we really need. Tiger has really had us focused on some key things to make these three decisions and how we're going to think about it the next two weeks."

"The Tactician" is what Woods has been called. And it sound like he's living up to his nickname so much so that the normally over-prepared Mickelson is impressed. Things are quite hunky-dory in the United States camp right now it seems which is fun if you're a fan of the American team. I'm interested to see if they remain that way if the Europeans lead by, say, four points going into Sunday.

Phil Mickelson has rough opening round at PGA Championship

11 days after playing some of his best golf at the British Open, Lefty can’t get right.

SPRINGFIELD, N.J. — Phil Mickelson won the PGA Championship the last time it was at Baltusrol in 2005. He played some of his best golf ever only 11 days ago at the British Open . And on Thursday, the New York-area crowd had his back even before he teed off.

The momentum he had to start the PGA Championship was there.

Until it wasn’t.

When Mickelson stepped onto the 10th tee for his opening shot Thursday, the cheers and shouts went on for so long that the two other players with him — defending champion Jason Day and two-time PGA champion Rory McIlroy — didn’t seem to exist.

But Mickelson’s first shot of the day sailed well left into the gallery. He hit into a bunker, blasted out to about 5 feet and missed the putt. It was the first of four bogeys in his opening 11 holes. He wasn’t driving very well. He wasn’t putting much better. After the frustrating start, the 46-year-old rallied for a 1-over 71 with three birdies over his last seven holes. He was six strokes behind leader Jimmy Walker.

“It’s not the start I wanted,” Mickelson said. “It’s not indicative of how I’m playing. But I’m back to where tomorrow, if I play the way I’ve been playing, I should be OK.”

Mickelson, in a bright pink shirt, turned it around with a birdie on the tough 503-yard third hole.

“That was a big birdie,” Mickelson said. “I hit two really good shots. If I miss that fairway, I probably have to lay up and fight for par again. Instead I hit a really good drive, a good 8-iron to 15, 18 feet behind the hole and made it. That kind of got things going.”

Mickelson is coming off one of the best tournaments he’s ever played — a 63 in the first round, a 65 in the final round at Royal Troon — and still lost by three to Henrik Stenson, who had the lowest score in major championship history.

Mickelson finished second for the 11th time in his career in a major.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t get off to a great start (at Baltusrol), like I did at the British,” Mickelson said. “It’s always easier. You shoot a good low number the first day, you’ve got momentum.”

Mickelson had three bogeys starting in the featured morning group along with McIlroy and Day. He still was only 2 over going to the 17th and 18th, both par 5s, a chance for him to get back to even par. Instead, he kept going the wrong direction.

He missed his drive so far right on the 17th that it landed just off the 15th tee box. Instead of having the gallery around the 15th tee and the gallery lining the 17th fairway move out of the way, he hit a wedge over them into deep rough. His third shot was over the green and he had to make a 7-foot putt just for par.

When Mickelson got in deep rough on the 18th, he tried to hit with fairway metal, but it squirted out and only the deep rough kept it from going in the water. He pulled his next shot into the gallery, chipped it to about 10 feet and missed. On the easiest hole at Baltusrol, Mickelson made bogey.

Mickelson said the 18th was the “really only good birdie hole” on the course.

“Just lost focus,” Mickelson said. “Just antsy, little jumpy, just lost the rhythm and made some terrible swings. There’s no real answer.”

While Mickelson got off to a subpar beginning, he said the crowd support was what really carried him along.

There wasn’t an empty seat in the bleachers on the 10th tee when Mickelson arrived just before his 8:30 a.m. start, they cheered wildly for him. When he hit his tee shot into the gallery, Mickelson walked up to them and said, “Good morning, guys,” and about 100 of them returned the greeting.

Mickelson said of all the support the people in New Jersey and New York have given him over the years, “today was the day that it helped the most.”

“I remember walking off of No. 3 and a guy said, ‘Hey, you’ve got a lot of golf left, you’re not out of this, let’s get going,’” Mickelson said. “He’s right. Got a lot of golf left. I came back and made some birdies.”

Phil Mickelson Makes Memory for Alternate Mike Van Sickle

Phil Mickelson played just two holes Saturday at the U.S. Open and missed the cut hours later, but limiting his day to that would ignore some of his unending impact.

Despite his short stay at Oakmont this weekend, Mickelson made an incredible memory for Pittsburgh native and U.S. Open rookie Mike Van Sickle, who made the field as an alternate.

Warming up before the start of their second rounds Saturday morning, Mickelson hit balls next to Van Sickle on the driving range. Jim Furyk was also nearby. Van Sickle, who also missed the cut, can take the story from here:

"The coolest thing happened this morning," Van Sickle said. "Hitting balls on the range and some guy puts his Callaway balls way too close to me. I'm like what's going on? I'm going to have to move down."

That man was Mickelson.

"I go to walk off the range and Phil says, 'Hey, hey, Mike.'" Van Sickle continued. "I walk back over and he shakes my hand. He said, 'Hey, I've been following your golf career since you were in college. I just want to tell you -- wish you the best of luck out there today.'

"That was by far the coolest moment of the week. So I told him, 'You go find a couple (birdies) on the last.' I knew he had two holes left, and I knew he was at seven over. So I told him, 'You go get a couple coming in.' And he was like, 'You too. You go out there and do it.'"

Power rankings: The Honda Classic

The PGA Tour kicks off its Florida Swing this week with The Honda Classic. For a number of players, this is a home game, as they call the Palm Beach and Jupiter areas home, including Rory McIlroy, who headlines the field.

Padraig Harrington is defending champion in the unpredictable event, beating Daniel Berger in a Monday playoff last year. 

PGA National's Champion Course almost always produces a dramatic finish, with the Bear Trap, comprising hole Nos. 15-17, typically playing a heavy hand in deciding the winner.

Here are our top five players for this week:

1.  Rickie Fowler -- Fowler almost won in Phoenix. He won in Abu Dhabi. He's hot. Pick him for that and his two top-15s here in the last five years.

2. Rory McIlroy -- A Sunday dud at Riviera shouldn't be that discouraging. McIlroy is playing well anywhere right now, just hasn't closed the deal on a win in 2016. Won here in 2012, holding off Tiger Woods.

3. Hideki Matsuyama -- The Phoenix winner was pretty solid at Riviera, T-11. Nothing fancy here in his Honda record, but he's such a good ballstriker.

4. Adam Scott -- Joint runner-up at Riviera, which is yet another such finish for Scott this season. The putter can be a liability, but he's clearly committed to improving and showed it at Riviera.

5. Phil Mickelson -- Mickelson has showed signs that he's ready to win. He came up short at Pebble and looked great in the Desert. Not a splendid record here but playing well.